Boys’ swim and dive team places second in state with new records

On Feb. 7 and 8, the Chattahoochee Swim and Dive team competed at the 2014 GHSA 6A State Swimming and Diving Championships at Georgia Tech. Overall, the boys’ team placed second, losing to Walton High School by only 6.5 points. But the new records set by four team members ensured that the team still had their moment of glory.

Triplets Kevin, Jay, and Mick Litherland (SR) led the team by scoring 197 of Chattahoochee’s 218 total points. However, this outstanding performance was not enough to oust Walton, which scored 224.5 total points without placing first in a single event, from first place. Because of the closeness of the final scores, some swimmers, including Alex Ho (JR), were disappointed: “We barely missed first place. We were so close. I was expecting us to win first place because we have placed second for three consecutive years.”

Despite this disappointment, four Chattahoochee athletes— the Litherland triplets and Jacob Rubin (JR)—set new state records in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays by 1.22 and two seconds, respectively. “We said that we were going to try and break the 400 free relay record, so when they told me we had broken [the 200 medley record] as well, I was ecstatic,” says Rubin.

With the triplets, who set three state records in four years, moving on to swim for the University of Georgia next year, some students are pessimistic about the future of the swim and dive team. However, Rubin believes that the team will work hard to maintain their dominance next year: “I guess everybody will just try their hardest and we’ll see what happens!”